How To Stumble into an Award Show
How To Stumble into an Award Show: My Experience at the 2014 NAACP Image Awards
My experience at the 45th NAACP Image Awards made me realize that there is no such thing as luck and that everything happens for a reason.
Go for a Walk
I had a conversation with my friend and he encouraged me to go for a walk. Just to simply get my mind off things. So that Saturday evening I drove down to old town Pasadena and did just that. As I turned the corner, I saw that the 45th NAACP Image Awards were being held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
Right Place, Right Time
In 2013 I dedicated myself to two magazine internships. Last summer I interned at Pasadena Magazine and in the fall, I interned at Los Angeles Confidential Magazine in Beverly Hills. I had only attended two red carpet events during that time and that was for LA Confidential. That first event, I got yelled at by an actress' (Who shall remain nameless!) agent when I was doing check in for celebrities. Not the ideal scenario.
Fast forward to present day, I sat on the curb near the entrance of the NAACP Image Awards, taking a few photos with Liz Hernandez from Access Hollywood & Kevin Frazier from Entertainment Tonight. I was even half-joking (Or was it meant to be?) with the security guard "You'll probably see me in there next year." He gave me that "Yeah, sure you are" look. A few people sat near me on the curb and someone had dropped their keys. The security quickly came and said tell the owner of the keys to go to the security center. A guy came back to the curb and I informed him he had lost his keys. He was unfamiliar with the area so I went with him to the security center to get them back. He thanked me for finding his keys and it turned out he was a filmmaker who owned a production company. He had given me an extra ticket to the award show. So it was truly being at the right place at the right time.
Dress The Part
I had noticed after I got the ticket for the award show that I was in plain street clothes while everyone entering the building was dressed down to the nine. Over the past two years I have updated my style. Acquiring nice dress shoes, dress pants that weren't baggy, slim fit dress shirt, and to top it off a skinny tie. I was prepared for that award show moment by dressing accordingly. So I rushed home and came back with black tie attire I knew I was accustomed to. I dressed the part and I was a guest at an award show no longer an intern.
Be Humble
In previous events I learned not to totally fan out when I see my favorite celebrities. I was confident and I was cool on the outside, but on the inside I was jumping for joy. As the award show went on speech after speech from Oprah delivering the Nelson Mandela tribute to Kevin Hart accepting his award as Entertainer of The Year the main ingredient was, being humble. Realizing that you are in this position for a reason and respecting the moment enough to thank those who helped you along the way.
Have Fun
In the midst of the award show I realized I was in the room with stars that I've looked up to since I was a kid. I was near Nia Long on the red carpet and I realized I had fell in love with her the first time when I saw The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I saw Oprah give a great speech on the influence Nelson Mandela had on the world when I remembered years prior seeing an interview she had conducted with him for her talk show. I saw Stevie Wonder perform his classics, the ones my parents would play in the house. So I definitely had the time of my life. I also had a chance to network and tell people about this blog of mine. I told my friend that it was really lucky how I ended up going but he refused to believe that. He knew that it was a meant to be. He knew that I wanted to be in the entertainment industry and that was a big sign telling me to keep going. To keep writing. To develop this blog into an online magazine and a print magazine. So will I be there again next year? Or maybe even five years from now? I would say yes, because after that experience there is no going back.
My experience at the 45th NAACP Image Awards made me realize that there is no such thing as luck and that everything happens for a reason.
Go for a Walk
I had a conversation with my friend and he encouraged me to go for a walk. Just to simply get my mind off things. So that Saturday evening I drove down to old town Pasadena and did just that. As I turned the corner, I saw that the 45th NAACP Image Awards were being held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
Right Place, Right Time
In 2013 I dedicated myself to two magazine internships. Last summer I interned at Pasadena Magazine and in the fall, I interned at Los Angeles Confidential Magazine in Beverly Hills. I had only attended two red carpet events during that time and that was for LA Confidential. That first event, I got yelled at by an actress' (Who shall remain nameless!) agent when I was doing check in for celebrities. Not the ideal scenario.
Fast forward to present day, I sat on the curb near the entrance of the NAACP Image Awards, taking a few photos with Liz Hernandez from Access Hollywood & Kevin Frazier from Entertainment Tonight. I was even half-joking (Or was it meant to be?) with the security guard "You'll probably see me in there next year." He gave me that "Yeah, sure you are" look. A few people sat near me on the curb and someone had dropped their keys. The security quickly came and said tell the owner of the keys to go to the security center. A guy came back to the curb and I informed him he had lost his keys. He was unfamiliar with the area so I went with him to the security center to get them back. He thanked me for finding his keys and it turned out he was a filmmaker who owned a production company. He had given me an extra ticket to the award show. So it was truly being at the right place at the right time.
Dress The Part
I had noticed after I got the ticket for the award show that I was in plain street clothes while everyone entering the building was dressed down to the nine. Over the past two years I have updated my style. Acquiring nice dress shoes, dress pants that weren't baggy, slim fit dress shirt, and to top it off a skinny tie. I was prepared for that award show moment by dressing accordingly. So I rushed home and came back with black tie attire I knew I was accustomed to. I dressed the part and I was a guest at an award show no longer an intern.
Be Humble
In previous events I learned not to totally fan out when I see my favorite celebrities. I was confident and I was cool on the outside, but on the inside I was jumping for joy. As the award show went on speech after speech from Oprah delivering the Nelson Mandela tribute to Kevin Hart accepting his award as Entertainer of The Year the main ingredient was, being humble. Realizing that you are in this position for a reason and respecting the moment enough to thank those who helped you along the way.
Have Fun
In the midst of the award show I realized I was in the room with stars that I've looked up to since I was a kid. I was near Nia Long on the red carpet and I realized I had fell in love with her the first time when I saw The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I saw Oprah give a great speech on the influence Nelson Mandela had on the world when I remembered years prior seeing an interview she had conducted with him for her talk show. I saw Stevie Wonder perform his classics, the ones my parents would play in the house. So I definitely had the time of my life. I also had a chance to network and tell people about this blog of mine. I told my friend that it was really lucky how I ended up going but he refused to believe that. He knew that it was a meant to be. He knew that I wanted to be in the entertainment industry and that was a big sign telling me to keep going. To keep writing. To develop this blog into an online magazine and a print magazine. So will I be there again next year? Or maybe even five years from now? I would say yes, because after that experience there is no going back.
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